Down to the Wire As Usual

It's almost too late for this week's Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday Challenge Post, and I would have been most upset not to have made it by deadline time.

It's been a very busy week for me. My crafting friend Cec from Cwcardcreations.blogspot.com came down from Canada to spend a week crafting with me. One of our main accomplishments was to sit down with my Cameo, and figure out blade depth, speed and thickness setting for various papers. Cec is going to put that in a spreadsheet for us to share, and I'm going to tell you how you can actually input them in your Silhouette software, so that you don't have to hunt a chart. So you can't see that yet.

One of the other things I did was to work on mittens. I found a pattern for assorted sizes for free at Fleece Fun. The sizes are great, but you need to cut the outer pair of mittens at least 3/8" larger than the lining pair. I made this pair for Miss Emily, Cec's granddaughter. I'm making a pair of monkey ones for her grandson, Jackson. They're not waterproof, but they're very warm, since they're lined with fleece.

Now onto something that will have you howling. In January, my granddaughter gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. My last post described my younger DD's idea of style. This is the aunt of my granddaughter and the mother of MonkeyMoo.  MM's imagination is way up there, and he loves to dress up. I also need to tell you that he has a stuffed monkey, that a friend of mine gave him when he was 1. The monkey's name is John, and he is according to MM, his "brudder".  You're sitting here by this time and asking yourself what's the point of this discussion.

Well, on Monday, younger DD arranged a photo shoot to get pictures of MM with his cousins. In the process(getting some seriously good and attractive photos) she decided that they would have a little fun, and let MM dress up. So here are the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1(Thing 1's blue hair is I think some blue foam on some elastic) and Thing 2. Now admit it, you laughed didn't you?

Sketch Challenge for Sassy Cheryl's

Thank you Dawn for a sketch challenge on the Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog this week. I always love a sketch, because it's one less decision I have to make. My comfort zone is just a little bit more comfortable with not having to make that decision.

For my image this week, I had to use this image from the NEW and IMPROVED Sassy Cheryl's Stamps called Just Be Yourself. I've colored her with my Prismacolor and Faber-Castell pencils.

When I saw this image, I immediately flashed back to first grade pictures of my younger daughter. She was 7 years old when I married her father, so I had absolutely no part in the ensembles she had on for both her school picture or her class picture. Needless to say, my husband must have been totally unaware that pictures were being made, because in her school picture she had on her Bert and Ernie t-shirt that had seen better days, and in her class picture, she had on gathered floral skirt with non-matching striped knee socks. She was definitely being herself, and she's still very much herself. She is also a good enough mother to let her 6 year old be himself. After all, in the greater scheme of things, fifty years from now, will it matter that she wore floral skirts with striped socks. I think not. In fact, I think it will be good for a laugh. I will add that in all subsequent school and class pictures, she matched.LOL

You know that I of course used digital papers and designed the card in Cameo. After all, that is me just being me.  The papers are from Shery K Designs Lalaloobsy Kit. The sentiment was typed in Silhouette, and just what I thought she might be thinking.

Thanks again Dawn for another great sketch challenge. I had a great time making this card, especially as I had Cec here crafting with me this week.

With Love

The theme for this week's Sassy Cheryl Challenge Blog is "With Love". It was a good challenge to get back into the groove.

For my card, I chose this sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge.

To create the background I took  a multi-shaped heart cut file from Silhouette and joined it with a rectangle to create the open heart overlay that I cut with my Cameo. The papers are from the digital kit called Cherish from Just So Scrappy 2. The image is called Do Not Disturb While Kissing.  I've colored the images using Copics, PrismaColor and Faber-Castell pencils. Think I need to get back to practicing my coloring. It's been too long.

Now for some Sassy Cheryl News. Sassy Cheryls is moving to a new site called Sassy Cheryl's Stamps where she's going to have her wonderful digi images, but also offering rubber stamps in the near future.  She's added a couple of new characters so be sure to check out the new site. When the move takes place, she'll be closing the Sassy Cheryls Digi store, and all the bargain bin stamps will be gone. You might want to head over and take advantage of those bargain images.

It's Been A Very Busy Week

Hi Gang! It's been two weeks since I posted and it's been a very busy two weeks at that.  On Saturday, February 2, my DH and I left home at 4:45 a.m. to catch a flight to Denver, CO headed to Keystone for a week of skiing with our younger daughter, her husband and our grandson MonkeyMoo. Our intentions in leaving early were to get to the mountains early enough to take care of things like groceries and ski and boot rental, and have a little time to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude, before hitting the slopes on Sunday. Well, as Robert Burns was want to say about the best laid plans, that went astray. Due to some mechanical problems with the plane at our home location, we missed our connecting flight, ended up spending the day in the Atlanta airport and not making it to the mountains until 10:15 p.m. 

We had a great week and had lots of fun. You all know the Mastercard commercials about cost of things and what is PRICELESS. Well let me tell you skiing with your 6 year old grandson is one of those PRICELESS moments. This is a picture of the whole gang at the top of Keystone Mountain.


On Friday morning, before we hit the slopes, my older sister called to tell me that my older brother had passed away from cancer. We were expecting it, but just not that fast. What a blessing it was for my DH and I to get to spend our last day on the mountain skiing with MM. It certainly helped to keep me from being so sad.

The trip home from the mountains was totally uneventful, thank goodness, but Sunday morning had us getting up bright and early to head to my brother's funeral. It was a wonderful service and got to spend time with family and friends and remember my brother with much laughter. He was a wonderful and generous person. That said the weather was horrific with tons of rain and flash floods. I know he was in Heaven laughing down at me in my rubber boots at the cemetery. Thank goodness the Lord let the skies clear somewhat for our journey home.

However between carrying a 30 lb backpack on Saturday and tense driving on Sunday, my shoulder started to give me some grief. I had run into a lady that had the neatest rolling bag to use as a carry on. It'll hold my computer along with my Kindle, my purse, some snacks and even my pashmina for my next airline trip. First thing in the rain on Monday morning, I hit TJ Maxx for this bag. I think it will be easy to spot.

I had been called for jury duty, and I had to report yesterday morning. Seems I got called for the Grand Jury, which I thought was all about deciding what cases will be held over for trial. Well that is part of the job, but the Grand Jury is also responsible for touring and reporting on  the Tax Assessor's Office, the County Jail and the Forest Service. The twenty of us were loaded into two Sheriff Department Vans and taken to the Tax Assessor's office where we were shown spread sheets and allowed to ask questions(???) then loaded back up and taken to the Jail, where we were given a two hour tour from unloading a prisoner until release. The one thing I can say is that the facility was very clean and the kitchen was spotless. I, however, don't want a return visit in any form. Thankfully we finished this in time for me to make my hair appointment for a color and cut for which I was overdue.

This morning it was cloudy, but not raining, so it was back to our regular walking schedule with my buddy. Now I know that Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow on Feb. 2, and that we're supposed to have an early spring, but this is ridiculous. Daffodils and Irises in mid-February is so not a good thing. We're expecting temps in the 20's this weekend so good-bye flowers.

We have videos of us skiing on the mountains, and if I can ever figure out a way to edit the MP4 into a smaller video, I'll  post so you can see us on the mountain.

Sun is shining for a change. I'm going to get this posted and head back out to TM and work on my printer. Thanks for stopping by.

In The Pink

Thank you Sassy Jeni for such a great theme for this week's Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog - Thinkin Pink.  It brought to my mind two autobiographical books written by Mildred Spurrier Topp about growing up in my hometown in the early 1900s. They are full of life growing up in a small Delta town, with all it's quirks, being raised by a single mom, who when deserted by her husband, moves her daughters to a small Delta town in Mississippi and opens a photography studio. Lillian White Spurrier is one of those women that you have to truly admire, because this didn't happen today, or even 30 years ago, but over a hundred. Talk about taking lemons and making lemonade, Thanks Jeni for the memories, and because of them, I was actually able to find copies of the books(our local library has them under lock and key in the Archive Room), and am now the proud owner of both. I can remember laughing and crying when reading them, and am eagerly anticipating the joys of reading them once again.

So onto my card. The theme was pink, and it just so happened that Just So Scrappy 2 recently released a digital kit called BellaGrace(wouldn't that be the best name for a little girl?) that had tons of beautiful papers just filled with pink. The rose background reminded me of the cabbage rose wallpaper that was so popular in the early 1900s(back to the books). I found this sketch on this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge.

"In the Pink" is an expression that means in perfect condition, especially of health. What better image to represent that than this Sassy Cheryl image called Dancing Day.  You can pick her up in the Bargain Bin HERE. Doesn't she look like she feels like a million dollars? She's colored with some base coating in places of Copics, but mostly with a combination of PrismaColor  and Faber Castell pencils.

The entire card was designed in my Silhouette  software and then printed and cut by my Cameo. Here's a picture of my design.
Once designed, I take individual elements to separate mats to duplicate for multiples cards, print on white card stock, and then cut. The best part is that I toss the left over white card stock scraps in the trash and I have no scraps.

Off to get this published and entered in the challenge.  I'm babysitting this morning for my 8 month old great nephew, and he's sure to wake up soon. 

Oh and did I tell you if you win, you get 2 free Sassy Cheryl images of your choice? I'm even early enough this week for y'all to have time to get a card in the challenge.

It's A Show Me Thursday

As usual, I'm late getting my post done for Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday Blog Challenge. I'm going to make it, but it's also going to be a very short post.

I actually made these on Saturday afternoon. I have a friend whose sweet mother has arthritis in both her hands. She also lives in a part of the country that is both and damp and cold. If you know anyone with arthritis, you know that's a very bad combination. I made these  lined mittens and stuffed the top of the hands and the thumb with rice, so that she can heat it and stuff her hands in them. Hopefully it will help with the ache. She's also had knee surgery this week, so while I had the fleece and the rice out, I decided to make a rice bag for her knee with velcro straps to fasten around her leg. I'm thinking it might be too heavy to start with, but I'm betting it'll fill the bill soon. I need to make another one of these for my cousin, whose broken her knee twice in the last 25 years, and has constant pain.

I found the pattern HERE.  After finishing the mittens, I went searching and found this site called Fleece Fun. Not only does it have a what I consider a better pattern for mittens, but she also has a ton of other free patterns for fleece that I can't wait to try.

I really wanted to treat you with pictures of robins that were in my front yard at lunch today, but by the time I found the camera SD card, they were gone. I don't think that they got the memo on the falling temps we're going to experience over the next 12 hours. I guess they thought it was spring since it was in the 70's yesterday.  I sure hope it means that spring is on it's way, but I think the weather has them confused.   Hope they can find a warm place to stash themselves for the next few days.

Well off to finish my card for the Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog. We leave early Saturday morning for Colorado and our annual ski vacation. I'm babysitting tomorrow, and Friday is going to be spent cleaning house and packing, so it's now  or never. 

A Little Bread Please

It's time(almost past time) for SMT on the Sassy Cheryls Show Me Thursday Blog. I love participating in this blog because I always love to see what everyone has going on.

I've been busy, but it's hard to show housecleaning(I did that on Friday) and on Sunday, I made a bunch of OWH cards(showed those on my last blog post). I've done some yoga and some walking, but today, I'm sharing what I did first thing this morning.

This is a picture of my morning efforts. I first baked 4 loaves of sour dough bread, and no I didn't eat the other two loaves. I gave them to my walking buddies. You see the blue heating pad to the left. My house isn't warm enough for bread to rise on its own overnight, so I put my bread pans on a cookie sheet and set the cookie sheet on the heating pad. Turn it on low and let it rise overnight. I got the bread baked before my walk. When I got back from my walk, I whipped up the biscuits, so my DH is ready to go. During hunting season, he has two breakfasts(just like in the Lord of the Rings movies), one between 4:30 and 5 in the morning and the other when he gets back from the woods around 9:30. He likes having a bit of variety for breakfast.

Well better get this posted before I miss the time and then I'm heading to TM to do something. Hope you're all staying warm and busy.